Extractive Economies in Material and Political Terms: Broadening the Analytical Scope

In order to curb environmental impact, absolute resource use reductions are urgently needed. To reach this goal, multi-scalar synergies and trade-offs in global resource use must be effectively addressed. We propose that better understanding the role of extractive economies—economies that extract ra...

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Main Authors: Anke Schaffartzik, Melanie Pichler
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2017-06-01
Series:Sustainability
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/7/1047
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spelling doaj-83e23dc27f9947ad8848114047824d772020-11-24T23:19:36ZengMDPI AGSustainability2071-10502017-06-0197104710.3390/su9071047su9071047Extractive Economies in Material and Political Terms: Broadening the Analytical ScopeAnke Schaffartzik0Melanie Pichler1Institute of Social Ecology (SEC), Alpen-Adria University, A-1070 Vienna, AustriaInstitute of Social Ecology (SEC), Alpen-Adria University, A-1070 Vienna, AustriaIn order to curb environmental impact, absolute resource use reductions are urgently needed. To reach this goal, multi-scalar synergies and trade-offs in global resource use must be effectively addressed. We propose that better understanding the role of extractive economies—economies that extract raw material for export—in global resource use patterns is a prerequisite to identifying such synergies and trade-offs. By combining a system-wide environmental accounting perspective with insights from political ecology and political economy research, we demonstrate that (1) the extractivist expansion may be the corollary of reduced immediate environmental impact in the industrialized countries; and (2) the material flow patterns on which this result is based do not suffice to identify the mechanisms underlying extractivist development and its role in global resource use. Our work on extractive economies illustrates that, in order to supply transformative knowledge for sustainability transformation, biophysical and socio-political conceptualizations of society-nature relations must be more strongly integrated within the interdisciplinary sustainability sciences in general and social ecology in particular.http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/7/1047extractive economiesinternational tradematerial flow accountingpolitical ecologysocial ecology
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Anke Schaffartzik
Melanie Pichler
spellingShingle Anke Schaffartzik
Melanie Pichler
Extractive Economies in Material and Political Terms: Broadening the Analytical Scope
Sustainability
extractive economies
international trade
material flow accounting
political ecology
social ecology
author_facet Anke Schaffartzik
Melanie Pichler
author_sort Anke Schaffartzik
title Extractive Economies in Material and Political Terms: Broadening the Analytical Scope
title_short Extractive Economies in Material and Political Terms: Broadening the Analytical Scope
title_full Extractive Economies in Material and Political Terms: Broadening the Analytical Scope
title_fullStr Extractive Economies in Material and Political Terms: Broadening the Analytical Scope
title_full_unstemmed Extractive Economies in Material and Political Terms: Broadening the Analytical Scope
title_sort extractive economies in material and political terms: broadening the analytical scope
publisher MDPI AG
series Sustainability
issn 2071-1050
publishDate 2017-06-01
description In order to curb environmental impact, absolute resource use reductions are urgently needed. To reach this goal, multi-scalar synergies and trade-offs in global resource use must be effectively addressed. We propose that better understanding the role of extractive economies—economies that extract raw material for export—in global resource use patterns is a prerequisite to identifying such synergies and trade-offs. By combining a system-wide environmental accounting perspective with insights from political ecology and political economy research, we demonstrate that (1) the extractivist expansion may be the corollary of reduced immediate environmental impact in the industrialized countries; and (2) the material flow patterns on which this result is based do not suffice to identify the mechanisms underlying extractivist development and its role in global resource use. Our work on extractive economies illustrates that, in order to supply transformative knowledge for sustainability transformation, biophysical and socio-political conceptualizations of society-nature relations must be more strongly integrated within the interdisciplinary sustainability sciences in general and social ecology in particular.
topic extractive economies
international trade
material flow accounting
political ecology
social ecology
url http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/7/1047
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AT melaniepichler extractiveeconomiesinmaterialandpoliticaltermsbroadeningtheanalyticalscope
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